The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has awarded VFS Global an extension to its global contract for visa processing services. The contract extension covers four regions – Asia and Oceania, Europe & Russia, Middle East & Africa, and the Americas.

VFS Global has been serving the Royal Norwegian Government since 2010 and currently operates 101 Visa Application Centres across 39 countries for Norway.

The contract renewal was signed by Per Egil Selvaag, Director General, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chris Dix, Head – Business Development, VFS Global.

This is a significant win for the company, which processes approximately 260,000 Norway visa applications globally each year.

Chris Dix, Head – Business Development, VFS Global, remarked, “We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Norwegian Government. This is not only commercially important for VFS Global, but also demonstrates the Norwegian government’s satisfaction with and trust in VFS Global, and further reinforces our company’s position as the leading visa services partner to Schengen member states and to 57 client governments worldwide.”

The Royal Norwegian Government reported the country’s tourism industry had another record year in 2016, following strong growth in the number of visitors in 2015. Figures compiled by Statistics Norway show average annual growth in the number of foreign visitors to Norway has exceeded the international average since 2010. The tourism industry accounted for over 4% of value creation and almost 9% of employment in the Norwegian business community in 2015. Nearly 160 000 people work in the tourism industry in Norway.Travellers from China, Russia, Thailand and India account for most of the inbound traffic into Norway.

For VFS Global, 2017 has been an eventful year and has outperformed competition by being awarded contractsfor seven new client governments this year alone: namely, Bahrain, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Nigeria, Slovakia and Ukraine. VFS Global is the trusted partner to 57 client governments worldwide, offering a range of visa, permit, passport, and consular services.